This collection is not housed at the Houghton Library but is shelved offsite at the
Harvard Depository. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with
Houghton Public Services staff to determine what material is offsite and retrieval
policies and times.

Stedman Shumway Hanks (1889-1979) was an airport engineer,
construction executive, banker, author, and United States Air Force Colonel. He was
born
on 1889 July 17 in Manchester, Massachusetts, the son of Charles Stedman Hanks
(1856-1908) and Clarina Bartow Shumway (1857-1925). He
attended the Groton School, and received an A.B. from
Harvard College in 1912, and an A.M. from Columbia
University in 1946. His first wife was Marjory Hancock
Hanks (b. ca. 1890-; married on 1919 February 11) and his second wife was
Helen Chappell, married in 1952. He had a son with his first
wife, Roger Stedman Hanks (1921-1999).

In 1936, Hanks patented a flight strip and helped gain government appropriation for
its
construction throughout the country. He was founder and president of American
Airports Corporation, executive director of the Massachusetts
Aeronautics Commission, and president of Stedman Hanks & Co.
He wrote many books and articles on aviation and foreign policy. His major
books were: Airfields for Puerto Rico (1946), Aviation gets down to earth; the growing need for public landing
fields (1940), The borzoi: the most noble
greyhound (1960), Flight strips - bargain airports
(1945), Flight strips for civilian use
(1944), Frontiers are not borders; a brief account of
a journey to meet and understand the peoples of the world (1955), International airports (1929), and others.

Hank's father established Seacroft Kennels in 1890 and brought
Russian Wolf-Hounds (later named Borzoi) to the United States. Stedman Hanks kept
the
kennels in existence and he was active in Borzoi fanciers' activities, but his
involvement in the kennel was limited. Hanks died in Manhattan, New York, at the age
of
89, on 1979 May 23.

In the preface to his 1959 master index to all volumes, Stedman Hanks details his
master
plan for his archive. He states that "I never kept a diary. Instead, I have put many
records, letters and memoranda into bound volumes ..." He goes on to state that these
volumes were divided into categories and distributed as follows [organized by color
of
binding]. The locations listed below (other than for Houghton) may no longer be
accurate:

Green: Other than personal: family members and business activities. 19 volumes.
Location (all 19 volumes): Houghton Library, Harvard University.